The Other Promise
by Flamboyant Fox
Summary: Unsure of what his purpose truly is, Roxas begins looking for answers with the help of Axel. With his feelings for the blond hidden, Axel helps in any and all ways that he can. It isn't until later on that Roxas realizes his purpose was there all along. Rated M for future chapters and strong language.
1. Author's Note and Disclaimer

**DISCLAIMER AND NOTES:**

I'd like to point out that I originally made this story – The Other Promise – in 2008, before the release of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (2009). I understand that the opening will not be the same as it should be per the games but … this is a pairing that isn't canon anyways, so it shouldn't matter too much. In short, the last game released when this story came about was Kingdom Hearts Coded for Mobile and before that Re: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. Now that we know how Roxas was when he first joined the Organization per KH: Days, the first chapter may run a little slow. I might speed that along with a jump skip in the second chapter. The ending will most likely stick to be the same and I _might_ add in Xion for the hell of it, maybe spice it up a little, but since she was never an original part of this story, she may not make an appearance.

… We'll see.

Anyways, these chapters are fixed up from the original that I'd done on an account that I've been unable to recover (which can be found through the link below if you are interested to see just how terribly I did back then). Please keep in mind … I was young. And … [sighs]. You'll probably get the picture just looking at it.

If you have only played the first two games (or a selection of them) there may be spoilers in regard to all the titles. Proceed with caution if you want to keep your Kingdom Hearts experience spoiler free. You have been warned.

I do not own any of the characters found throughout this story – all belong to their original creators (that being Disney and Square Enix). All worlds found throughout the story belong to Disney and Square Enix. All "room" titles belong to that of Disney and Square Enix (if any FF or other SE titles are featured as a world in here). Any song titles that are mentioned as chapter titles – if any – belong to Yoko Shimomura, such as the title of the story itself.

Some elements of the story may belong to myself, such as the plot and possible location titles if they do not have their own names. Otherwise, copyright is essentially obvious. Cover image was made by myself, using opening scenes from Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance HD Remix.

I think that's it … If not, I'll add it in the footer notes of the chapter otherwise.

* * *

 **Original Story:** s/4442573/1/The-Other-Promise


	2. Purpose

**_[PURPOSE]_**

Marvelous.

That was one word you might use to describe the castle. Centered in the World That Never Was, you could see its tall walls from any window or street-way that faced it from within the black city below. Despite the darkness that covered the city, the base of the castle glowed with a soft, white light. Perfection, another word you could use. The castle was completely white, with gray markings that made a vine like pattern up the sides and others that dotted them, a display of windows.

Amazing. Magnificent. _Breathtaking._

These were his first thoughts upon seeing the castle's outer walls for the first time. Roxas' first thoughts and impression about something ever.

They had crossed the bridge, walked the steps and all that boring venturing. Why hadn't they taken the dark portal to the location instead? It was surely the fastest way, was it not? He peered at his companion from the corner of his blue eyes for a moment and wondered what the tall, red-haired man was thinking. His own head felt fuzzy, clogged even, like someone had stuffed it full of cotton. Was that normal? To feel so … dead inside?

They stopped suddenly, the other just a step or two behind him. From above him, he heard a cool and smooth voice bounce off the walls. "Let us all welcome our newest member." Roxas looked up, finding himself in a room of uneven chairs and several people. Of the faces he could see (without moving to look), he knew none of them. "Chosen by the Keyblade, he is number thirteen, Roxas."

Silence.

There was no applause, no congratulations or warm welcomes. Not even cold ones. Just a room empty of noise despite the number of people within the room, and if Roxas was number thirteen than there were at least twelve others in the room. He was sure that he heard someone snicker from behind him on his right side, and felt something inside of him that he couldn't explain. Regardless, it was a feeling that he didn't like.

"So now we are truly an organization with thirteen members." A deep voice, coming from a large man with hard violet eyes and black dread locks. He sat next to the first voice, the one who had found him and commanded his companion – this man known as Axel – to bring him here.

"Now the seats have all been filled." Said another, not as deep a voice as the other had been.

Roxas' eyes moved to the man on the left side. One eye was hidden by a patch and his face was scarred. If he could feel emotion and display it, he would of. Instead, he stood there with almost blank eyes, while the man popped a cocky grin and vanish through a dark portal. Many others did the same thing, except for the one before him. The leader of the operation, the one who found him.

Xemnas.

"Axel." He looked down at them as if they were the dirt under his boot. "You will oversee his training in the field. Unless business arises to change this decision, you will show him around, teach him what his purpose is."

 _I can give you purpose._

He could hear the words echoing in his ears as if they had just been said to him again, barely heard anything else that _was_ being said, and it wasn't until Axel and he were walking away that Roxas had began to wonder just what his purpose was. He still wanted answers, but found himself without them. He tried to utter out something, but found himself unable to speak. Instead, he stared at the ground as he walked, the silence between both him and Axel heavy.

* * *

The room he stood in was similar to what he described the castle to be – mostly that is. The walls were an offset white, with the same choppy and gray-colored vine pattern. Piping lined the walls as well and a large window gave a front seat view to a moon shaped heart in the sky. In the middle of the room was a bed, with the same dull color and a sigil that stood prominently at the head of it. None of that mattered though, as he found himself stepping towards the window.

"This is your room. I'm right above you on the next floor, since I'm a higher number and all." There was an awkward chuckle, as if the words were meant to be funny. He cleared his throat. "Just holler if you need anything."

"What is that?"

The words had tumbled from his mouth, he hadn't even realized that he was saying them. At first, he was a bit surprised, but it felt natural enough that he was quickly calmed. He was sure that he'd taken Axel by surprise as well, as it took several minutes for the taller man to even answer him.

"Well … that's Kingdom Hearts."

"Kingdom … Hearts?"

"Yeah. We Nobody's … don't have hearts. So, our purpose is to collect hearts and complete Kingdom Hearts. So that we might become whole again." When Roxas turned to look at him, Axel was scratching the back of his head, as if it was difficult to explain. He tried a smile but was sure he failed at it.

"Oh, I … get it."

This seemed to make Axel a bit more relaxed, his face lighting up some as he changed the subject. "So, I imagine you'll want to get some sleep. We'll start off with somewhere easy, nothing too hard I guess since you're new to it all. We might even be able to do an introduction of all the members … if any of them are around in the morning anyways." He mumbled the last bit. Roxas tilted his head to the side in confusion and Axel waved it away. "It's nothing. Welp, nighty night." And he stepped from the room, letting the door close itself.

Roxas stood for a few moments, as if processing the conversation in which they just had. Was Axel usually this awkward, or was it irregular behavior? He looked back out the window again, leaning on the edges of the window sill. The moon above kept him in awe, as if staring up into it would give him all the answers he needed. It wasn't until he yawned, and a sudden wave of tiredness washed over him that he unzipped the black coat and kicked off his boots, the lengths of them hidden underneath his pants. He plopped down on the bed, his back getting a feel for the mattress underneath him.

Sleep was harder to come by, he wasn't sure why. He laid there for several minutes – staring at the ceiling, staring at the wall, taking another long look at Kingdom Hearts once more – with a mind that seemed fixated on what had happened so far. He didn't notice his eyes slipping down, the darkness of sleep overtaking him, all the while his mind going over again and again the definition of his 'purpose'.


End file.
